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Acids & Bases
The Arrhenius
and
Bronsted-Lowry Theories
Arrhenius Acids
Svente Arrhenius (who first proposed the
theory of ionization) identified acids as
substances that ionize in water to produce
hydronium ion.
For example:
HCl + H2O H3O+ + ClAny substance that ionizes in water to
produce hydronium ion can be classified as
an acid.
H3O (aka H )
+
Arrhenius Base
Svente Arrhenius also identified bases as
substances that ionize in water to produce
hydroxide ion.
For example:
NaOH Na+ + OHAny substance that ionizes in water to produce
hydroxide ion can be classified as a base.
Properties of Acids
All acids have the following properties:
Neutralize bases to form a salt and water
Have a sour taste (example: citric acid,
vinegar)
React with metals to produce a salt plus
hydrogen gas.
Have pHs less than 7 / Affect indicators
Why?
Because all acids have H3O+ ions present!
Properties of Bases
All bases have the following properties:
Neutralize acids to form a salt and water
Have a bitter taste (example: unsweetened
chocolate, heroin)
Are slippery. React with fats/oils to form
soap (saponification)
Have pHs greater than 7 / Affect indicators
Why?
Because all bases have OH- ions present!
Salts
Ionic substances that break up in solution to
produce ions other than hydronium and
hydroxide ions.
NaCl (s) Na+(aq) + Cl- (aq)
KNO3(s) K+ (aq) + NO3- (aq)
Li2SO4 (s) 2 Li+ (aq) + SO42-(aq)
Salts are made up of positive (metal) and negative (nonmetallic or polyatomic) ions. The more familiar you
become with Table E, the easier it will be for you to identify
salts.
Practice
Identify each of the following as
acids/bases/salts:
1. HC2H3O2
2. K2SO4
3. KOH
4. LiOH
5. HNO3
Acid HC2H3O2 H+ + C2H3O2Salt K2SO4 2K+ + SO42Base KOH K+ + OHBase LiOH Li+ + OHAcid HNO3 H+ + NO3-
Strong/Weak Acids
Acids can be either strong electrolytes or weak
electrolytes.
Strong acids (such as HCl) completely break up into
their ions:
HCl (aq) H+(aq) + Cl-(aq)
Weak acids (such as HC2H3O2) only partially break up
into their ions:
HC2H3O2 H+ (aq) + C2H3O2-(aq)
Weak acids dont completely break up because they go to
equilibrium!
Strong/Weak Bases
Bases can be either strong electrolytes or weak
electrolytes.
Strong bases (such as NaOH) completely break up into
their ions:
NaOH (aq) Na+(aq) + OH-(aq)
Weak bases (such as NH3) only partially break up into
their ions:
NH3 (aq) + H2 O NH4+ (aq) + OH-(aq)
Weak bases dont completely break up because they go to
equilibrium!
BronstedLowry
Acids/Bases
can exist
when no
water is
present
Bronsted-Lowry Definitions
Bronsted and Lowry felt that this was too limiting, since
there are many non-aqueous systems (no water is
present).
They came up with the following definitions for acids and
bases.
An example
In the reaction below there are no Arrhenius
acids or bases present (because no
hydronium ions or hydroxide ions are formed).
Water as a base
But what does that make the water molecule?
Ammonia as a base
Lets look at another example:
Teacher-student model
Teachers give off information (like acids give off protons)
Students accept information (like bases accept protons)
Sometimes teachers are students, and sometimes students
are teachers
Teacher and students are roles that individuals play
depending on the situation.
Acid and base are roles that molecules play in a
particular chemical reaction. In different reactions they
may play different roles.
Amphiprotic
Sometimes a molecule can donate a proton (act as an
acid) and sometimes it can accept a proton (act as a
base).
Molecules that have this ability to act as both an acid and
a base are called amphoteric or amphiprotic.
Water is the most common example of an
amphoteric substance.
Reality check
For each of the following reactions identify any BronstedLowry acids and bases.
acid
base
HNO
+ H2O H3O+ + NO3acid 3
base
base
HNO3 + NH3 NH4+ + NO3acid
acid
S2+ Hbase
+ OH2O HS
HS
+ acid
OH- S2- + H-OH
base
HS+ HCl H2S + ClAre any of the substances above amphoteric?
Acid-base equilibrium
Many acid base reactions go to equilibrium, that is they
have both a forward and reverse reactions
For instance, acetic acid (HC2H3O2) reacts with water to
form hydronium ion and acetate ion.
Conjugate Acid-Bases
When a substance donates a proton, the substance that
is left is its conjugative base:
Identify the
amphoteric
substances in
this chart.
Salts
Types of Salts
Salts can be classified as being:
neutral
acidic
Basic
How a salt is classified depends upon whether
secondary reactions between the ions making up the
salt and water form either hydronium or hydroxide
ions.
Neutral Salts
Neutral salts are formed from a reaction between a
strong acid and a strong base.
(Remember neutralization reactions are double replacement
reactions.)
For instance,
HCl
+ NaOH NaCl
HOH
Acidic Salts
Acidic salts are formed from a strong acid and
a weak base.
For instance,
HCl
+ NH4OH NH4Cl
HOH
Basic Salts
Basic salts are formed from a weak acid and a
strong base.
For instance,
HC2H3O2
+ NaOH NaC2H3O2
HOH
Try these
Identify the parent acid and base for the following salts,
identify them as strong or weak and predict the type of
salt formed.
Answers